Rockies prospects: Rosell Herrera homers twice

Rosell Herrera hit a pair of home runs -- his first two of the season -- but High-A Modesto's pitching staff allowed 14 runs in a three-inning stretch in the middle of the game en route to a 19-6 loss on Wednesday.

Herrera, who spent a chunk of time on the disabled list with a wrist injury, hadn't found his power stroke prior to last night despite owning a batting average north of .300. That all changed with a pair of bombs off of Bakersfield starter Drew Cisco, who was otherwise pretty good in six innings.

Chris O'Dowd also homered for the Nuts, whose six runs and 10 hits would have been good enough to win most games. However, this one was not most games; starter Jayson Aquino was chased after five innings, having allowed 10 runs (nine earned) on 11 hits, including three home runs. The bullpen wasn't much better, as three reliever combined to allow another nine runs. One of those was Raul Fernandez, he of the 40-man roster spot, who now owns a 5.48 ERA in 2014.

Parker homers in loss

The Rockies have a short -- and, really, ineffective -- bench as a result of injuries, and that has resulted in fairly rampant speculation that Kyle Parker will soon make his major league debut. The 24-year-old outfielder/first baseman made a case for himself on Wednesday by launching a homer and drawing a pair of walks in Triple-A Colorado Springs' 14-7 loss to Las Vegas.

Parker raised his batting line to .288/.346/.479 with his strong day at the plate. Those aren't eye-popping numbers for the Pacific Coast League, but they're certainly not bad for a player in his first year in the circuit. Fellow Clemson alum Ben Paulsen continued his torrid first half with a 3-for-5 performance. Paulsen fell a homer shy of the cycle but drove in three runs and the 26-year-old first baseman is now hitting .313/.388/.577.

Brett Tomko made his debut with the Sky Sox and tossed a perfect first inning that included a strikeout. The 41-year-old right-hander became the first player in history to suit up for nine different PCL squads. Ryan Kulik, the de facto spot starter who was called up from Modesto prior to the game, allowed eight runs on 10 hits in 3⅓ innings.

Asheville splits double-header

Low-A Asheville split a pair of games in Lexington, dropping the first one by three runs before winning the nightcap, 7-3. Max White and Jordan Patterson had a pair of hits and Zach Jemiola had an up-and-down outing on the mound in Game 1. Jemiola struck out eight batters in 5⅔ innings but also gave up six runs on seven hits, including a couple of homers.

David Dahl had two hits from the top of the order in Game 2. Raimel Tapia got on base three times and Ryan McMahon, Michael Benjamin and Emerson Jimenez had a couple of knocks apiece. Benjamin, 22, is hitting .336/.391/.526, and that's not even a product of McCormick Field; the Arizona State product owns a .350/.416/.550 road line.

Tulsa wins pitchers' duel

Carlos Hernandez allowed a run on four hits in five innings and the bullpen combined for four scoreless frames in Double-A Tulsa's 2-1 win over Arkansas.

Ken Roberts tossed three scoreless frames and struck out three batters, paving the way for Cole White to earn his second save of the year. The Drillers were unable to break through in seven innings against Travelers starter Kramer Sneed but scored twice on their bullpen in the bottom of the eighth on Cristhian Adames' two-run double.

DSL Rockies lose rare slugfest

The DSL Rockies and Cardinals combined for 15 runs on 22 hits, which has to be some kind of record for the league, but the Rockies scored only five of those runs en route to a 10-5 loss. Each of the Rockies' 14 hits were singles, with three apiece coming of the bats of outfielders Manuel Mendez and Luis Brito.